Williams' Double-Double Vaults North Texas Past Denver

DENTON (12/30/06) ? On the anniversary of his first double-double, Quincy Williams notched the third of his career in leading the Mean Green basketball team past Denver 91-79 on Saturday night at The Super Pit.

DENTON (12/30/06) On the anniversary of his first double-double, Quincy Williams notched the third of his career in leading the Mean Green basketball team past Denver 91-79 on Saturday night at The Super Pit.

The junior, who already led the Sun Belt in shooting percentage, went 8-12 from the floor, scoring 16 points and hauling in 12 rebounds for North Texas (11-3, 2-1 SBC). Williams also turned away four Denver (1-13, 0-4 SBC) shots, vaulting him into ninth place in school history for career blocks with 41.

“This was a great way to end 2006, we got a win at home and more importantly we got a conference win at home,” said head coach Johnny Jones. “I thought our guys played well in the second half to get us back in and eventually take the lead. I credit Denver for their play in the first half. It wasn’t so much what we didn’t do in the first half as it was what they did do in the first half to get up on us.”

What Denver did was hit eight first-half 3-pointers to put the Mean Green in a 48-45 intermission deficit. NT responded with a series of adjustments that resulted in a 60-15 edge in bench points and a 46-14 lead in points in the paint.

Keith Wooden bullied the Pioneer post players with a career-best 20-point, seven-rebound performance. The junior also dished out a career-high four assists.

Williams, still the only player on the Mean Green roster with a double-double to his credit, recorded his first on Dec. 30, 2004 in a win over Tennessee-Martin (15 points, 10 rebounds).

“We are starting to get good inside play from all of our post players. (Keith) Wooden and Quincy (Williams) were a force for us tonight inside, which opened up the outside for (Michael) Sturns, (Kendrick) Davis and Ben (Bell),” Jones said.

Sturns turned in another outstanding performance off the bench. The guard led NT with 22 points on 10-18 shooting for the junior’s fifth 20-plus point game.

Kendrick Davis and Rich Young also netted double-figures. Davis, in his second game back from a hand injury, hit four 3-pointers in pouring in 18 points. Young led NT’s defensive effort, but still came away with 12 points.

Tonight marked the fifth time this season that North Texas had five players in double digit scoring, a high in the Johnny Jones era.

The 91-point production by the Mean Green marks the third straight game North Texas has scored 90 or more points and the sixth time this season overall. NT is now 43-9 overall under head coach Johnny Jones when scoring 80 or more points.

The Mean Green now hits the road for a pair of games in Arkansas. North Texas takes on Arkansas-Little Rock on Thursday and ArkansasState on Saturday.